Azzack Well this lit professor would definitely be a good choice lol!

I did do some review swaps a while back when I first joined this site, but I did notice very quickly that the majority of people didn't give very good reviews in return, so I haven't asked since. I'm only curious about serious feedback for one of my stories. But that story is no longer updated on this website, only on Royal Road. I've gotten some great reviews on that site which have helped me tremendously. Once I finish writing the first book of that series, I plan to revise and rewrite it entirely. Thus, in short, I have no need for reviews for the time being. (:

And thank you! Glad that my reviews are deemed as such. :3

    Azzack

    Now that's ironically hilarious. For the prejudiced academic clique, anything economy/business counts against the concept of intellectual.

    Observe that I'm referring to the in-club prejudice and nothing factual at all.

      Seshata

      Hello, it is great what you are doing here. I am not an english native speaker and i know that my skills are limited (especially vocabulary and word usages), but i would be more than happy to have an opinion from an english lit teacher.

      If you can, i would appreciate if you could read for example the first chapter and then one of the last ones to see if an improvement can be felt.

      https://dynamic.webnovel.com/book/15465781005526105?utm_source=writerShare&utm_campaign=241142573

      EDIT: Just added you to my library for reference. I think i took some wrong habit learning passively from all these badly translated works. Already a word i didn't know just on the second page of chapter 1 😅. Very interesting first chapter by the way.

          Seshata Your reviews sure verify you as a scholar.
          I really really enjoyed all your feedbacks leaving aside the fact that I haven't read a single story which you have reviewed on this thread. They were quite intriguing and fun to read. Your words hauled some stories towards my library. Good luck and keep up this amazing work!

          I think, my ships gonna sail more towards reviewers than writers in the upcoming days 😆

            Seshata Thank you very much for the analysis and advices!
            I still haven't this scale to weigh vocabulary. Concatenate is a common expression to me, but not to my reader. It really depends the people you talk everyday, the books you read in your life, and how your vocabulary was built during your lifetime. Sometimes those words are the perfect choice to me, but it seems not everyone agree! Also, I come from a culture where we avoid saying things directly, so I tend to soften everything. It's a vice I shouldn't be transfering to English, I know.

            About the story con you cited, well, I decided to start in medias res, so in the next chapters what happened before is fully detailed. Does it count?
            Writing in English is a new thing to me. We usually can see what is odd in other's work, and become blind to our own flaws. But you are absolutely right about the flaws in my work, and your advices are gold.

                Seshata

                Thanks for the good wishes!

                I'm currently studying at New York University for my Masters, and hoping to get into any Clinical Ph.D program because the acceptance rates to clinical programs are so low! I think they accept like 10 people per program, and it's a fully paid for ride, however, for that reason it's so hard to get accepted to a program ( I think the acceptance rate is under 5% for some programs)!

                As for my story, just a fair warning, it's mostly fun and games and doesn't reflect the mind of a discerning psychologist, and more so is just for the sake of fun and definitely not literary excellence.

                I tend to let certain rules go to the wayside, and occasionally misuse an oxford comma here or there. My sentence structure is based on nothing more then ensuring that the reading experienced is maximized, and I literally know nothing about literary form.

                I use alliteration once in a blue moon, and I'm rather quixotic in spell checking my errors. Regardless, appreciate any feed back and thanks for taking the time to read even a piece of it!

                Also, don't expect a sprawling vocabulary full of innuendos and laden with riveting prose about the characters plight. I sort of tend to hack away at any words that seem to clunky and definitely am afraid of making my work hard to read. Not that you don't need to study a million words to get into a Ph.D program, but yeah, thanks for giving it a shot!

                    Seshata
                    I like the fact that you started your story with a retelling of past glories. You can tell the MC is hung up on his past. You can also tell that shit will hit the fan before you even reach the end of the chapter and read it for yourself.
                    The MC's voice is also sarcastic and hilarious. The references to video games makes it even more relatable to the readers.
                    I might have found some paragraphs a bit infodumpy for my taste tbh. When you speak of his sister sending him emojis on where he should shove his trophy, then dusting it off, sending pics to annoy the parents. It's nice to know that their parents don't approve, but it may be too early to delve into that. I spaced out a little during those paragraphs and had to re-read them.
                    Other than that, it's a solid start, makes me want to read more.

                        Yep. Me like what I see here.

                        This is representative of one aspect that's mostly missing on Webnovel -- writing advice, including as in this case, critique.

                        OK, going against my self-esteem I would love to hear (read) what you would have to say about my novel, especially since English is not my first language. I just started posting it and there are only 6 chapters for now.

                        The story is about a world where game-like systems are the norm, Everyone has a level, status and even skills are a common thing.

                        If your stats are good you can even become an explorer, someone that ventures inside a place called MAZE, a dungeon of sorts filled with monsters creatures and things that the regular world is missing such as magic.

                        The story follows Hera, a woman who wanted to be an explorer but her status were too low to become one. One day she wins a raffle that allows her to level up for the first time giving her the chance to achieve her childhood dream.

                        I love the system setting and my idea was to make something easy to read and fun. It's more about how things work and what you can do with them than about power or revenge.

                        The rhythm might be a bit slow for some but that is the idea. I want to give sort of a slice of life feeling to most of it.

                        The name is MAZE- the Endless quest and here is the link
                        https://www.webnovel.com/book/15767689506007905/MAZE--The-endless-Quest

                        Even if you don't have the time to review this one I want to thank you for the help you are giving so many authors. Your analysis are amazing and I'm sure it's helping a lot of us!

                          Chitawulf Your profile pic is ridiculously cool! I am in awe of anyone capable of visual arts. I used to teach high school, and the absolute best part of my job was all the original works and the fan art kids would draw for my walls. I have kept every piece, and it's now split between my office and my writing space at home. I'm sorry it drives you insane (ah, the wonders of art), but you def have talent! :)

                              Azzack I'm super happy to read both of these and answer all your questions, no problem!

                              Also, I'm sorry your mom wasn't supportive of an arts degree; that's unfortunately all too common. It incenses me! Not that I have anything against statistics or bio or business or what have you, but how anyone could believe the arts are not just--if not more so--important for the cultivation and continuation and EVOLUTION of the human race and society freaking baffles me! The power of storytelling is literally the most important aspect of human history that has led humanity to its current state. Every horrible era in human history is marked by periods of anti-arts, anti-creative thought sentiment and laws, and every era in history in which humankind made leaps and bounds into the future and into a more cohesive, caring race is marked by society placing an emphasis on creativity and the arts. HOW DO PEOPLE NOT SEE THIS!?

                              Ugh. Sorry. Rant over. Moral of the story, I am so proud of you for sticking to your passions even in the face of adversity and others doubting you! Keep it up!!!

                                  Arkinslize
                                  Can I just say that the English skills of the non-native speakers on this site are so impressive to me? To be fair, I'm American, and therefore used to people who barely speak one language and manage to mangle that even after a lifetime of learning. I would be happy to read the first and last couple chapters and let you know what progress I feel you've made!

                                  And thank you thank you SO MUCH for your kind words regarding my novel! I actually have a problem with using words people don't know and thinking they're perfectly ordinary words, lol. My students tease me for this all the time, so it keeps me on my toes. ;)

                                      SrtaA You are so very welcome!

                                      First, take all my words as light advice and not gospel! I haven't read the whole story (or in your case, chapter 2), so my advice is purely for that first chapter in isolation. The fact that you talk about what happened two nights ago in the very next chapter is perfect! That's all I wanted, just to know that we'll get to the bottom of that mystery early on. I'm completely pro starting mid-action--great instinct on that!

                                      Also, I have a very similar problem with vocabulary, which is the only reason I pointed it out. I get called out all the time for words I think are completely standard vocab terms that everyone knows...only to find out that apparently no one knows them, and I'm a lit freak, haha. Always be true to yourself as much as possible, but try to temper that with being true to the specific readership you're trying to engage. You don't want to alienate your readers by making them confused or making them feel like your story is out of their league, simply because they don't have the background to understand the language. (Again, I'm telling you this, but it's definitely something I need to keep in mind myself, and I often struggle with it!)

                                      And as for the "avoid saying things directly" cultural norm, it's definitely very prevalent throughout the world, but yes, it doesn't translate well in English. The English vocabulary is vast and colorful, and we sure love our adjectives and adverbs and modifying phrases, but plot is driven by movement. When we talk around that movement, we lose our focus and the plot becomes muddled. It's a difficult writing style to overcome, but you're on the right path, and I know you're talented enough to write impactful, engaging stories!

                                      Keep up the awesome work, and good luck!

                                        Her_Shadow Hahahaha honestly, I'm excited to read your story even more given this hilarious response. "hack away at any words that seem too clunky" is my new favorite expression. :)

                                        And ooh yes, good luck with Clinical Psych! Those PhD programs are notorious for low acceptance rates. It's a pain the ass, tbh.

                                        Also...OXFORD COMMAS FOR LIFE, MOTHAFUCKAAAAAS. I have intensely strong feelings about the vital importance of the Oxford Comma, and I will carry my stance to the GRAVE.

                                          GoodHunter Wow, thank you! I appreciate this candid and thoughtful feedback. Being "info-dumpy" is actually one of my greatest concerns with writing via WebNovel. Normally when I write novels, I start off super info-dumpy just so I know all the important stuff and can find it again later. Then, once I get further along in the story or when I finish a full draft, I edit out probably 90% of the exposition, and the other 10%, I move to include in small doses here and there throughout areas where it really matters or fits better.

                                          I've never written by the seat of my pants like this before, and it's rather terrifying. It's good for me, I think, to have to be so mindful about "what is TRULY important right this second" at all times, and it's definitely good for me not to have the chance to edit all the time and spend weeks on a single chapter making it as perfect as possible.
                                          Buuuuut I am learning as I go, so it's good to hear from readers what aspects I'm over-writing and over-thinking.

                                          Thank you very much!

                                              Perizou I'm pumped to read this! I love the synopsis; it's like a mix between Only I Level Up and Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Chicks in a Dungeon, but with a female protag and that hard-come-by slice of life feel. It'll be a hot minute before I have time to review it, but I definitely will. I wanna read it in general! :)

                                                  Seshata
                                                  Haha, yeah I read it and it totally has Danmachi vibes. I absolutely love it. You should check it out >:3

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